John Carpenters 'The Ward' start shooting on Monday!!

[MoonSylver]

It wasn't the critics -- everyone seemed to hate The Thing when it was released. I was in high school and can't recall a single person my age actually liking it at that time. The Thing came out during the summer of Poltergeist and at the height of transformation-mania where every horror film seemed to be built around show-stopping make-up effects. The Thing was well-promoted on TV, but simply lost in the mix. It's doubtful that positive critical reviews would have influenced audience opinion among all the competition that year. I think I was in middle school at the time & LOVED it (though I caught it on cable...I don't even remember being AWARE of it's theatrical release.) Then again, I was different than kids my age... Even though I know it wasn't well regarded back then it just seems unfathomable to me now...

[Doc]

I know BTILC is supposed to be cheesy, but I just can't enjoy it. When I was younger, I loved it. But, seeing it again if it weren't for Kurt Russel's character I would probably, change the channel. In my mind, Carpenter has only made three great films. The Thing, Starman, and They Live. The rest are just tolerable or absolutely horrible..... Starman- Yeah. loved it! His best 80s work imo. The Thing- Nope, never digged it much. Sorry. They Live- Man, this film had potential. Great Premises but, it just got siller and siller as, it went along. I think this film needs a remake!

[C5NOTLD]

It wasn't the critics -- everyone seemed to hate The Thing but simply lost in the mix. It's doubtful that positive critical reviews would have influenced audience opinion among all the competition that year. The Thing also competed against E.T. which didn't help much.

[Slain]

The base where the Thing takes place also didn't have one chick stationed on it--which was probably realistic for time period--but the movie lacks a certain tension with an all male cast, plus the idea of an all male anything in this day and age must seems kind of goofy to contemporary movie watchers.

[EvilNed]

Actually I welcomed the complete absence of romantic or sexual tension in any form.

[Slain]

Boy-girl tension doesn't do much for me either. I would love to see an remake of Carpenter's The Thing with an all female cast.

[shootemindehead]

It wasn't the critics -- everyone seemed to hate The Thing when it was released. I was in high school and can't recall a single person my age actually liking it at that time. The Thing came out during the summer of Poltergeist and at the height of transformation-mania where every horror film seemed to be built around show-stopping make-up effects. The Thing was well-promoted on TV, but simply lost in the mix. It's doubtful that positive critical reviews would have influenced audience opinion among all the competition that year. As far as I recall, it was 'E.T.' that scuppered the box office success of 'The Thing', as has been mentioned. Why that was, I have no idea. It's not exactly aimed at the same audience. 'E.T.' was a PG cert and 'The Thing' was an 18's cert over here. I think a lot of critics disliked the fact that it bore no resemblance to the original. Which, in my book, dosen't make sense either. As Stephen King mentioned, Carpenter's 'The Thing' was far superior to the version with James Arness, who was basically a "...walking Carrot". Anyway, 'The Thing' went through the roof, over here in ireland, with the kids I grew up with. Everyone wanted to see it, AFAIR. I remember thinking it was the "best film" I ever saw at the time.

[Bone Daddy]

Its good to see JC back in action. I admit, I'm an unabashed JC fan,but his body of work is filled with both hit and misses. I've seen just about all of his films,save for Halloween and Assault on Pct 13 in theaters, so I tend to view his work in a more positive, nostalgic light.